Not a lot of quantity but finally got back on the board with some Spanish silver

Bill D. (VA)

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Oct 7, 2008
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Location
SE Virginia
🥇 Banner finds
6
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
F75 SE (land); CZ-21 (saltwater)
Primary Interest:
Other
Dan and I were able to squeeze in a half day hunt yesterday afternoon that would be our last one of 2015. We were excited to return to our recent site where we hit on a flurry of buttons on our previous hunt there. We initially started expanding on the area we had gridded before, and I immediately dug 2 buttons and things were looking good. But after that I could hardly coax a signal from the ground, and things started looking like we had done a great job cleaning out the place on the last trip (although Dan had a bit more luck in the button dept). I eventually decided to walk through the original hotspot hoping to come across something we might have missed, and was quickly rewarded with a very "silvery" sounding signal. I finally saw a silver coin in the dirt and was certain it was a 1/2 reale based on the fact that just about every single target coming from this spot dated from 1775-1825. But you can't imagine the disgust when I realized it was nothing more than a crummy barber dime :sad10:. So I remained with a goose egg in the colonial silver king contest with Dan. The only other interesting target I dug at this spot was some kind of small brass cap, and after cleaning the dirt off I saw where the top was gilted with a flower motif showing. I have no idea what this came off of.

At this point we decided to move on to an older but very productive site as discussed by Dan in his post. I know for a fact that at least 20-25 colonial silver coins have come from the several hotspots on this property, and we felt we needed to give it another go with the soybeans just cut. And, of course, Dan's very first signal was a 1683 cob which put me down 2-0 for the season, but it sparked a little excitement for things to come. And in that same area I heard a bunch of promising signals, but just about all of them were blobs of melted lead. We slowly made our way about a 100 yards over to the knoll that contained the infamous "money pit", and were getting a fairly high number of signals in spite of that area having been pounded many times. Soon I started noticing my detector acting up a bit, and saw where my battery light was flashing. As soon as I changed them and walked about 10 ft I got a strong, shallow signal that promised to be another chunk of lead. But I was caught off-guard when a silver disk appeared, but I wasn't assuming anything after what had happened earlier in the day. But I fared better this time as it turned out to be a nice little 1782 half reale. This is my 3rd of the season (but first with Dan), and #184 overall. We made one more wide loop as we headed toward the truck, and ole Dan managed to convert what should have been a button signal into a micro-sized cut piece. I tell ya, they don't get any smaller than this, and this little midget of a coin definitely should not count toward the contest:laughing7:. But I guess fair is fair, and now Dan holds a commanding 3-1 lead. But if nothing else, this one hour hunt at an old spot gave us renewed enthusiasm to return and clean up a few high-quality leftovers. Had a ball as usual Dan, and am anxious to get back in the fields soon. Merry Christmas to all T'Netters!
 

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Upvote 29
Thats a beauty of a half reale, Bill. Happy Holidays and hope you have a great 2016.
 

WTG! Nice Spanish. Saw dans post earlier, so Ive been waiting to see one from you. :thumbsup:
 

3-1 is WAY better than 3 and O.
 

Nice! Congrats!
Lots of detail left on your silver.
Still a good hunt. Hope The worms get busy and hall a bunch more goodies up where your detector can grab them.

Merry Christmas, and an Awesome New Year!
 

Wishing you and your family the best during the holiday season.

Very well done Bill. Nice silvers and buttons. Congrats.
 

Your Half reale came out in amazing condition Bill, allot better then the one I dug in our pounded out site. Funny how it is, there are these sites that just continue to produce long after you figure that they should have dried up. Don't give up on that place just yet Buddy, no doubt there is more to come out of the ground from there.
All the best, and congrats on the beautiful Spanish.
ZDD
 

Good for you and I'm happy for you to come across such wonderful historical finds. But many here would consider a "crummy barber" a great find. Many here don't have early history in there "back yard".
 

Good hunt Bill,
Glad to see your spanish slump is over. I guess the plate on your truck isn't a bad omen. Lol
And I know exactly what you felt when you seen it was a Barber! Haha. NO WAY!! THAT STINKS..
Happy Holidays to you and your wife..
 

Way to get back on board with the Spanish silver...Merry Xmas Bill and all the best in the New Year!
 

Great hunt and thank you for sharing. Congrats on the finds!
 

Fantastic half reale and digs.

Russ
 

Its such a bummer to dig those barber dimes. You guys are spoiled down there in the tidewater. I guess I wont bother posting the barber I dug tonight. LOL
 

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Way to go pulling Spanish Silver on your last hunt of the year...Hopefully you will continue right where you left off...Congrats on a nice hunt!
 

Bill, THAT is a GREAT coin! Well done! Jealous here at the beach man!
 

Way to go Bill. Nice score on the espana!

Happy holidays bud
 

I very wise relic hunter recently said

.... I think I'd almost be happy to be digging mercs in a park. (I can't believe I said that!!:BangHead:)

Well... You did better than that, you got a barber in a bean field! :laughing7:

Great hunt Bill and super happy that you got on the board with some Spanish silver. That's a good looking half reale. I like that button a lot too... We got nice weather, I hope you get back out there some more soon. As always, great post man and can't wait till the next one.
 

Sweet little real there, she's in great shape.
 

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